Social media can be a powerful tool for IT services companies. Not only does it provide an opportunity to reach more potential customers, but it also serves as a platform for connecting with like-minded professionals and staying up to date on the latest industry trends.
However, simply posting content is not enough. Unfortunately, when you post, the organic numbers are pretty low:
The current average reach for an organic Facebook post is just 2.2%, but could be as low as 1.1% for some brand pages. (Source: Ignite Social)
The average organic Facebook Page post sees just 0.07% engagement. (Source: Hootsuite)
Social media engagement has become increasingly important for companies that want to make the most of their online presence. This comes in two forms... enhancing the posts to drive engagement, and brand-level engagement to increase awareness and post engagement. Think of it as a two-way street to results.
Here are some tips for increasing your social media engagement and the importance of doing so.
Social Benefits
Engagement is essential for any IT services company that wants to make the most of its online presence and maximize its reach. Here's the straightforward map to results:
And some data to back that up:
Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing. (Source: State of Inbound Marketing)
Social media is a source in making purchasing decisions for 84% of B2B executives (Source: Leadspace)
4 in 5 B2B leads from social media come through LinkedIn (Source: LinkedIn)
Benefits Beyond Social
Social engagement not only helps you out on social platforms, but also has a direct impact on the algorithms used by search engines to surface content.
Search engine algorithms analyze data such as user engagement, comments, likes, shares, and click-through rates to determine which posts should be more visible than others. Therefore, the more people engage with your content on social media, the more likely it is to appear higher in search results, increasing brand awareness and recognition.
In addition to optimizing for search engines, engaging in conversations on social media can also impact how your followers perceive your brand. By responding to comments and questions in a timely manner, you can show your followers that you are attentive and care about their needs. This helps build trust and strengthens your relationships with customers.
Post-Level Engagement
If you want to get the most out of your social media posts, you need to focus on engagement. There are some straightforward ways to boost this on the post level.
Here are some tips for getting started:
Start a Conversation
The easiest way to increase engagement is by starting conversations with your followers. Ask questions, respond to comments, and even share engaging articles from other sources (curated content) in order to get people talking about the topics you're putting out there. In essence, don't post in a vacuum. Post as if you were at a cocktail party, interested in talking with everyone there about the topic.
This will help build relationships with potential customers and establish credibility within the industry. It's also a great way to generate new ideas and find out what people think of your services. When IT services companies engage in a social media conversation with their followers, they can improve the visibility of their posts for the algorithms and increase engagement.
Encourage Post Interaction
Another great way to increase engagement is by encouraging interaction with your followers. One easy way of doing this is by creating polls or surveys on topics related to your business or industry. We have found this really only works when you have a certain audience size already. Doing so with a small audience may not be a good use of time, but with a large following, it can be an excellent way to get people talking.
Use Selective Hashtags
Hashtags are one of the most powerful and effective tools for increasing post engagement on social media. By using relevant hashtags, businesses can easily target their desired audience and increase the reach of their content, thereby enhancing engagement levels.
When using hashtags, it’s important to be selective and use only relevant tags. Using too many hashtags or irrelevant hashtags can have the opposite effect and leave users turned off or confused. Additionally, make sure to research which hashtags are currently trending in your industry so that you can reach a wider audience of potential customers.
Be Visual
Visual elements can be a great way to increase engagement on social media. Not only do they help engagement for text-heavy content, but they also make it easier for viewers to quickly understand and take in your message. Adding images, videos, GIFs and other forms of visuals to your posts is a great way to drive likes, shares, and click-throughs from your followers.
Brand-Level Engagement
As IT Services customers become more educated and savvy about their choices, it is important for brands to use social media to create meaningful relationships with customers and stand out from the competition. Brand-level engagement will help both your company at a high level, as well as boost your post reach and engagement.
Here are some tips for getting started:
Topic Engagement
One of the best ways to get your IT Services company in front of your target audience is through the topic options available within social media. We'll focus on LinkedIn as that is the main go to for B2B companies.
1. On your company LinkedIn page (as long as you're signed in as an admin) there is a section on the left side titled "hashtags". You can click on any of these three and you will be redirected to a news feed with posts that have that hashtag in the copy. You can then scroll through and like, share or comment as your company page when the post/person posting is of interest. You can update these three page level hashtags in your page settings under "Community".
2. Your Content Strategy for your blogs, videos, whitepapers etc should have relevant topics available that can be used for social engagement. In LinkedIn simply search that topic at the top, choose "Posts" from the filters at the top, then make sure to switch from your personal acct to your brand/page acct on the bottom left of each post when liking, commenting and engaging with these posts.
3. Connect personal topic engagement to brand engagement. All the personal engagement done by yourself and your staff will benefit your company. This can be done through topic engagement within your LinkedIn groups where the audience is more targeted. If you haven't joined LinkedIn groups yet, you might want to get on that as there are so many benefits.
Once you're inside a group, you can use that same search at the top for topics, but it switches to a group focused search. Find and engage and group members will see your personal interactions as a positive addition to your company.
Target List Engagement
Outbound marketing is an important part of any business' strategy, but it can be difficult to know where to start. One way to make the process a little easier is by creating a target list. A target list is simply a compilation of potential customers or leads that your company would like to do business with.
One way to easily enable your company's awareness for your target list is a social media engagement approach. This can be more manual in nature (which is one reason outsourcing this to a knowledgeable marketing agency pays off), but the benefits are worth it.
Here are some target list engagement guidelines:
Pick 10 target companies from your list at a time to focus on.
Go to their page on LinkedIn and look through their posts for the best ones to engage with.
Make sure the post you're engaging with is from the last few weeks.
Longer comments that are focused on the topic of the post or the company are more valuable than a “nice post” or “great stuff”
Write your comment based around the timing of the post as well
Think about your actual comment, and if it would be valuable to the company/person/other commenters
As earlier, make sure to switch from your personal profile to your company's using the drop down on the bottom left of their post.
Target list engagement will put your company in the spotlight, help out your social posts, and potentially lead to new business.
Overall, social media engagement is an essential tool for IT services companies that want to stay competitive in today's digital landscape. Social media can be an incredibly powerful tool when used correctly by IT services companies looking for more brand awareness and customer engagement online.
By starting conversations with followers, encouraging interaction, creating visual elements, using topic engagement, and target list engagement, you can increase your social media engagement quickly and easily—helping you stay ahead of the competition and enhancing your business awareness, leads, and customers.
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